Santa Cruz Imposes More Water Restrictions, Threatens Higher

3 good evening, thanks for joing us! im marc cota- robles. we'll be heading back out to jasmine with more pro-am coverage... ### but first --- people living in santa cruz will now need to *reduce their water usage... or face higher bills!## and this news--- after the city implemented "stage three" water restrictions. central coast news reporter cassandra arsenault has new information on what that means... 3 3 *trt 1:46outcue:standard:*11-17 1:01-1:091:20-1:30rose mary menard has only been the 3 water director in santa cruz for seven days...and already she is knee 3 deep in drought concerns. she said she's ready to help the city step it up and conserve. bite: we are really in an unprecedented drought we have flows that are 3 lower than anything we have seen historically.so rose mary is taking the water comission's recommendation to move to a stage 3 plan seriously because the weather forecast isn't looking good for rain bite: we need a foot of rain- a whole 12 inches before we get discharge that will flow into the streams and rivers.with barely three inches of rain this past year...the city of santa cruz will be deciding whether to ration the amount of water use per household. and mary rose believes it can be done with a simple change of a daily routinebite: if you're taking a 10 minute shower at two gallons a minute that saves 10 gallons.if you don't follow conservation rules, you'll pay for it... bite: i think the rates are like ten times the normal rate.standup: the city of santa cruz wants households to reduce their water use by 20 percent but what if you cant conserve anymore.next up to move toward conservation is the soquel creek water district . ethan bearman is a local radio host and is concerned he can't do much more than the steps he's already taken last year bite: i'm already an efficient household but i'm going to be required to cut back even more my son according to my allergist is required to bathe every night bc of his allergies and i'm going to be penalized bc other people didn't cut back when this was initially brought up.both water districts said it will look at who is conserving already when it comes to bills. 3 the soquel creek water district meets *tonight at seven... at capitola city hall. and next week, the city council will have to decide whether to approve the water commission recommendations... for rationing. 3